Good to see Priest well-represented by messrs Baton and null, you guys know your stuff.
Rando, re Opeth, I pretty much listen to
Watershed. It's a musty, autumnal, fairly proggy sort of extreme metal... it seems fairly divisive among fans, but I never care about that much. I recommend it if you're in the mood for something a bit slower-moving and eccentric. Chanced across it fifteen years ago and liked it so much I never really felt compelled to explore further, other than the odd scattered track. "Demon of the Fall" is neat, wish I knew where to find more of its heavenly coda. Their post-Watershed stuff is, appropriately enough, dramatically different and much lighter in tone.
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Regarding Priest, I concur that Vengeance, Defenders and Painkiller are the three to grab. Other than Defenders' aforementioned weak finish, they're the band at their explosive, immediate, precision-machined best. The interim between Defenders and PK saw their most avowedly commercial work, not bad for what it is, but not a patch on the trilogy's unbridled furies. While steadfastly avoiding overt tech-wanking territory, it's sleekly melodic, harmony-driven, high-powered metal that still sounds cutting-edge to this day.
Up here in space... I'm lookin' down on you...
A few highlights from each:
>THE HELLION/ELECTRIC EYE
>RIDING ON THE WIND
>SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE
>PAIN & PLEASURE
>FREEWHEEL BURNIN'
>ROCK HARD RIDE FREE
>THE SENTINEL
>EAT ME ALIVE
>SOME HEADS ARE GONNA ROLL
^ fucking lmao... all links dead, had to improvise. Witness MAD
POLE POSITION (
) SKILLS in
Freewheel Burnin'! Which I always associated with Gradius, Salamander and other fiery interstellar shootathons... in fact, you know what, fuck it. Imma put in an audio-only link, because I actively avoid music videos, and that is one fuckin helluva track.
BORN TO LEAD
AT BREAKNECK SPEED
WITH HIGH OCTANE
WE'RE SPITTING FLAMES (I still prefer to hear it as RESPECT IS GAINED - post scores, noob!)
I prefer my own mental imagery, naw mean? Do unto others etc etc ;3 The dual-guitar lead-out is especially spectacular - cutting-edge space dogfighter metal.
>PAINKILLER
>HELL PATROL
>ALL GUNS BLAZING
>LEATHER REBEL (
rad chorus, reminds me of Dio's "Rainbow in the Dark")
>ONE SHOT AT GLORY
I've never bothered with later stuff, a terrible habit I have with old favourite bands. TBH, just seeing they were still going to fond reception was enough for me. Will have to catch up sometime. Was forever before I finally tried Motorhead's post-
Inferno stuff.
Of the pre-Vengeance years,
Sad Wings and
Sin After Sin have a lot to offer in their slightly proggier 70s metal mode... while
Killing Machine has knock-down drag-out rock n' roll with a brutal metal edge, and has aged better than iconic followup
British Steel, where they really got into prototypical 80s metal.
I would recommend
Unleashed In The East for a good snapshot of this era's best - most of the tracks I'd suggest are on there in superior form. Not a knock on the studio versions, it's just a helluva record. In particular, its
"Victim of Changes" is to die for.
>THE GREEN MANALISHI (WITH THE TWO-PRONGED CROWN)
>VICTIM OF CHANGES
>GENOCIDE
>TYRANT
>DELIVERING THE GOODS
>SINNER
>HELL-BENT FOR LEATHER
The glaring exception is
Stained Class (only one track on
East), which is right in the middle of their 70s canon. Despite being routinely hailed as a foundational "modern metal" record, I don't get that feel from it. That's clearly
Killing Machine/British Steel's angle, one fully realised in
Vengeance/Defenders. Stained is a bizarre detour into aspects of disco and space-rock, flamboyant, trippy and downright danceable at parts, paradoxically anchored to balls-hard classic rock riffs and tone.
Wild-eyed and tight-fisted
I'm fused to the bone...
It's my favourite Priest record overall, even including the Vengeance/Defenders/Painkiller trinity. Doesn't have their raw feelgood power, but holy fuck, it grooves and struts with an armour-plated edge I've never found elsewhere. Elusively morbid lyrics, keening vocals, bludgeoning riffs and cocky grooves... a blisteringly, blindingly flaming salvo of 1970s alchemy.
They laughed at their God,
And fought Him in vain
So he turned his back on them,
And left them in pain... (a tale of war any hardened arcade vet will resonate to
-
SAINTS IN HELL EACH ONE OF THEM MARTYRS / QUITE WILLING TO DIE)
I wouldn't even recommend it as a metal record, particularly - just an inimitably fabulous set of heavy music, fronted by a guitar duo of legend, a jazz-schooled percussionist of sublimely easy control, and the gayest, most blazingly commanding operatic screamer heavy music has yet seen.